Despite the hype, it looks as if voice over internet protocol (VoIP) still has some way to go before it becomes widely adopted by small businesses.
According to a survey by ComReg, more than half of the 500 small businesses it spoke to had not heard of VoIP before and only three per cent were using the technology.
Additionally, only 12% had been approached by a supplier or provider offering VoIP technology.
Despite the low figures, Cathal O’Toole, product manager for VoIP at BT, was bullish about the future for the technology. He suggested one reason for the low level of awareness could be down to confusion over the terminology. People might be more familiar with VoIP as voice over broadband or through technologies like Skype.
“You will notice a dramatic change in the statistics over the next year or so,” he claims. “I’m very confident that we will have products using VoIP as a connectivity method this year.”
O’Toole added that VoIP applications for small businesses were definitely in BT’s planning for solutions for 2006.
Commenting on the figures, Comreg public affairs manager Tom Butler pointed to the results for corporates as signalling the way things would go in the future.
“More than half of corporates were approached by a VoIP provider,” he stated. “In terms of awareness, approaches by VoIP providers and use of VoIP, there have been increases in the last six months. This is still a relatively new service and as such we can expect to see continued growth as companies become more aware of these services.”
The survey found 81% of corporates were aware of VoIP and 32% were using the technology.
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